Enjoying the Ride

Kiddo and I made some vlog vids during our Dada Time last night.  I thought they were cute, so I’m posting them.  She usually hams it up a bit more in making Mumma cry, but J is back to fighting off kid germs, so she was resting.  

As for her and Clucksters… She really really wanted to introduce him.  When I say we fall into KiddoLand, this is what I mean.  Brain Transplants, curlupitious, liver surgeries, rambunctious Polar Bears, et al.  Sometimes it’s just better to be silly and be in KiddoLand.

Outside of KiddoLand, summer trips, life, planning, etc etc, I had this pop up on one of my socials today.  

“Eat at a local restaurant tonight.  Get the cream sauce.  Have a cold pint at 4 o’clock in a mostly empty bar.  Go someplace you’ve never been.  Listen to someone you think you may have nothing in common with you.  Order the steak rare.  Eat an oyster.  Have a Negroni.  Have two.  Be open to a world where you may not understand or agree with the person next to you, but have a drink with them anyways.  Eat slowly.  Tip your server.  Check in on your friends.  Check in on yourself.  Enjoy the ride.” 

I was thinking about that today, as I headed out to find food and run errands.  Seeing as temps are 35C+ these days, I decided to wait in a pool of shade for a tuk.  Near the little shady spot I found, there was a cart selling various meats on a stick.  Lunch is done.  

After that, I grabbed the tuk and headed out.  

I’m enjoying the ride.  I can say that.  I am confident that J will agree with me in that.  Kiddo is just enjoying it all.

We came to Bangkok knowing next to nothing about it and now… Well, now we know a bunch.  We can say the same about Vietnam.  Shanghai and China as a whole.  We hope to see Tokyo and Seoul.  Same with those.  But, we are willing to learn.  Experience.  And enjoy the ride.

We also check in on our friends.  We check in with each other.  We check in with ourselves.  We order the steak rare.  We’ve had an oyster… and beetles, crickets, etc.  We’ve done our best to push our comfort zones, to expand our thinking, and to try new things; even if those things scare us.

It’s all scary, truth be told, but not in a horror movie or jump scare type of way.  It’s scary like the first day at a new job is scary.  The first day of school.  A first date.  Sure, it’s scary, but it’s more of an apprehensive scary, an anxious scary.  It’s not, serial killer is locked in the house with you scary.  

Even this blog is scary.

I’ve been very open and honest here.  About the good and bad.  The frustrating and fun.  About my past, our pasts, the choices and happenings that got us here and to Shanghai next.  I’ve tried to chronicle life and the adventures of it for J and myself, but also as something Kiddo can look back on as she grows and see what and where and how and remember it and get a different perspective on some of it.  

Listen…. 

I don’t write this to gloat that I’m not working.  You think my day to day isn’t work, come on over and spend a week with me.  Walk with me in 35 degree weather a half km, manage the house, the meals, the budgets, the daily market trips, Kiddo to school, laundry, life, this blog, visas, summer planning, supporting J, supporting Kiddo, and the basic air traffic control that is the day to day here and you might change your mind.  

Also, I need to manage that alone.  There aren’t many other expats around right now that I can connect with; in part due to where we live, in part to the fact that we are out of here in less than 2.5 months, and in part to the fact that my nights are focused on Kiddo and J.  My AirPods are my best friend in the day to day.

Not that I’m upset about this.  Or struggling with this.  I realize that mentioning Bourdain and my own mental health struggles and daily challenges might have some people raising an eyebrow in wonder.  I am fine.  I do recognize that I could not be.  Part of that is why I keep my appointments with Doc Jenn weekly.  So I can check in on myself.  So I don’t start on the downward spiral that drags me down.

Because it’s a great ride.  

Because I’m not done seeing it all yet.  None of us are.  We are excited for our Summer in the States and Mexico.  We are excited for Shanghai.  We are excited for China.  We are excited for what’s next and then next after that and next and next and next.

One day, god willing, I’ll be 75 and I’ll have filled a few passports, seen a lot of the world we live in, and loved it all with J and Kiddo.  I’ll have had fun dates with J.  Eaten interesting meals.  Seen the wonderful things that this world has to offer.  The natural beauty of it.  Wondered and marveled at the human ingenuity that created some of what we’ve seen or experienced.  Watched Kiddo grow.

What’s next, where’s next, and what’s after that?  I don’t know and I really don’t care.  As long as I’ve got J and Kiddo with me, we can figure it out, elephant walk it, and explore it.  It’s all part of the ride and if, at the end of the day, the cost of this wonderful ride is life….

Well, I’m not about to short change myself.  Give me the good stuff.  Show me good stuff.  Let me take the MAX ride, not the Kiddie Ride, because I’d rather do and see it all than take the slow and boring way around.  There’s more to life than Starbucks, PF Chang’s, and The Olive Garden and I’d much rather take a chance on the little stall selling me meats on a stick or krapow than eating at a place that will taste the same if I have it in SF, NY, London, Houston, Paris, Tokyo, HCMC, or BKK.  We (and yes, I confidently speak for J and Kiddo here) love the variety.  The uniqueness.  The experience.  

If you ever want to spend a week or two on the ride with us, just poke us and let us know.  We’ll do what we can to assist you in getting to us and then we will enjoy the ride with you for a bit.

Let’s go, Kiddo… It’s almost time for this rollercoaster to jump tracks and go in an entirely new direction.  It will be scary, fun, and filled with adventures, experiences, and a whole lot of food that we won’t know; but I’m sure we’ll come to love.  Just so long as you are there to Kiddo it up for us and keep us smiling, laughing, and family hugging.